Within a Deep Forest
*Signature Selection* – Today’s Free Game Signature Selection titles are the best of the best. Despite being completely free, they’re as good (or better) than many of the retail games that sell for $10, $30, or sometimes even $60. They’re longer, display more polish, and have more heart than the vast majority of free games out there, and MUST be played.
Genre: Platformer
Platform: Windows
Developed by: Nifflas (Nicklas Nygren)
Download Here
The Scoop: Within a Deep Forest is the first major indie game release from Nifflas. He was an unknown at the time of the game’s release, but has since built up a monstrous (in a good way) reputation for himself, thanks to a string of beautiful, atmospheric indie game hits. We’ll eventually get around to covering those titles, but felt it was appropriate to start here.
The gameplay is simple, but that simplicity hides within it an incredible amount of complex platforming and puzzle-solving. Gamers play as a perpetually bouncing ball. Holding down the A button will make you bounce higher and more violently, while holding S will give your bounces less… bounce. Don’t be fooled by this simple control setup and your cute, 16-bit style blue ball, however. The game very rapidly becomes an ever-escalating gauntlet of ball-bouncing platforming precision.
The platforming is brilliant in its simplistic difficulty. Most of the time, all you need to do is bounce from one platform to another. But it’s never as easy as that. With too much upward momentum, you might bounce off a ceiling, missing your jump. But if you overcompensate the next time with a lower, more horizontal jump, you might bounce right off the far side of the platform you need to reach. The platforming action is pure. It’s skill-based – there are no enemies, time limits, or other gimmickry to get in your way.
It’s also maddeningly difficult.
I think Nifflas knew he was making a very very challenging experience, and compensated with the soothing, atmospheric music and visuals that have since become the trademark of all his titles. After I died for the 12th time on a particularly devilish section filled with wind-fans intended to blow me off course, I asked myself “Why do I keep persisting? What is it about Within a Deep Forest that makes me continue attempting to bounce a silly ball through these environments, when I would have given up on most any other game?”
The answer lies with the environments themselves. Indiegames.com described the game’s environments as “…lush, moody worlds that deceive the player about their size through layers of mystery and detail… drenched in twilight, the horizons frayed with purple. Small pixel creatures lend hints of life and detail to the game’s massive rooms.” This is remarkably more accurate (and poetic) language than I myself could have come up with.
Compounding the soothing beauty of the environment is the game’s non-linear structure – a structure and encourages (and indeed, requires) exploration. As the game progresses, you’ll gain access to new colors of bouncing balls. Each with their own specific characteristics, which allow them to access new heights (or depths) of the game’s hub, and thus new worlds to spin off into and explore.
The entire experience is sublime; it’s the kind of game that simply can’t exist in today’s retail environment. In fact, I’m not sure it ever could.
(20 votes, average: 4.70 out of 5)
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Links:
JayIsGames Review
Youtube Clip
Creator Interview
Wikipedia Entry
Comments
2 Responses to “Within a Deep Forest”
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Absolute classic. I’ve played through this game any number of times and still love it. The gameplay is pretty good, but what really makes it is the music and simple but lovely graphics.
I agree with Cyan. The graphics, music and sound set up this brilliant atmosphere that makes the game just… amazing. Also, CHEESE.